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I am keeping a list of blog posts all these successful bloggers are doing to screw their readers. I am sure JonNYC approves, sad!
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
(Post 30302964)
The FTC has laid out and enforced guidelines what bloggers are supposed to disclose. Sadly no one in the credit card selling 'travel' blogosphere bothers to follow it.
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I didnt say that the FTC and VFTW had any interactions.... ?
The FTC says the following: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/busi...ple-are-asking Suppose you meet someone who tells you about a great new product. She tells you it performs wonderfully and offers fantastic new features that nobody else has. Would that recommendation factor into your decision to buy the product? Probably.Now suppose the person works for the company that sells the product – or has been paid by the company to tout the product. Would you want to know that when you’re evaluating the endorser’s glowing recommendation? You bet. That common-sense premise is at the heart of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Endorsement Guides.The Guides, at their core, reflect the basic truth-in-advertising principle that endorsements must be honest and not misleading. An endorsement must reflect the honest opinion of the endorser and can’t be used to make a claim that the product’s marketer couldn’t legally make. Isn’t it common knowledge that bloggers are paid to tout products or that if you click a link on a blogger’s site to buy a product, the blogger will get a commission?No. Some bloggers who mention products in their posts have no connection to the marketers of those products – they don’t receive anything for their reviews or get a commission. They simply recommend those products to their readers because they believe in them. Moreover, the financial arrangements between some bloggers and advertisers may be apparent to industry insiders, but not to everyone else who reads a particular blog. Under the law, an act or practice is deceptive if it misleads “a significant minority” of consumers. Even if some readers are aware of these deals, many readers aren’t. That’s why disclosure is important |
Originally Posted by oliver2002
(Post 30303239)
I didnt say that the FTC and VFTW had any interactions.... ?
The FTC says the following: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/busi...ple-are-asking So if you write about an fantastic offer of hotel points on sale against cash and fail to clearly disclose that buying points for cash after clicking the link in that article you will run afoul of FTC rules. Putting a big block of catch all legalese on the blog post or in the about us section doesn't relieve that requirement. Sadly the latter is done by all bloggers. |
Originally Posted by GUWonder
(Post 30303307)
Sounds like the FTC doesn’t enforce much of anything against the bloggers who have themselved covered with legalese fine print. In any case, I find the "banter" here interesting. I never read the blogs anywhere near what can be described as "regularly", but do enjoy reading entries that are mentioned on FT (in other forums that I frequent often) from time to time. |
Originally Posted by gleff
(Post 30301199)
A reader points me back to this thread, highlighting this spurious charge against me. Sadly I suspect better judgment would be not to engage here. However the allegation that I took someone else's work and claimed it was my own was absolutely 100% false. It gets repeated either by people that haven't bothered to fact check, or who want it to be true badly enough that they choose not do so.
Loyalty Lobby claimed I copied and pasted a hotel list they created and claimed it was my own. That is false. In my post I quoted the blog where I found the list -- (the content in question, from 2014, was in the form of a direct quote). However where I made a mistake is that I attributed it to <I>Head for Points</i>, failing to realize that he himself had quoted the list from Loyalty Lobby. So I cited HFP, not LL. I absolutely blew it. But the mistake was misattribution and was never "not crediting other bloggers." There probably isn't another blog in the miles and points space that goes out of their way to credit sources more than I do. Sadly the person who originated this misleading allegation takes the opposite approach.. I'll now allow better judgment to return, leaving this forum as a space space for criticisms. I wanted to correct this one false claim, and will not delve further into speculation, accusations, or vitriol. Best, Gary Thanks for the clarification and for taking your (correct rather than incorrect) lumps here. FWIW, though, just like in all the service provider forums, this is a space for all discussion, not just criticism. Although just like in the airline and hotel forums, sometimes it may not seem that way. :) @:-) |
Originally Posted by yyznomad
(Post 30303984)
Wouldn't any level of enforcement first require a complaint being lodged? People probably can't be bothered to complain unless they feel cheated in some way.
In any case, I find the "banter" here interesting. I never read the blogs anywhere near what can be described as "regularly", but do enjoy reading entries that are mentioned on FT (in other forums that I frequent often) from time to time. Just because no one has enforced consumer protection laws against Gary or other bloggers doesn't mean they aren't violating them; just because enforcement action isn't taken doesn't mean its right; "legalese" like that on these blogs probably isn't of much "legal" value. Compliance departments at financial service providers focus on risk of enforcement action, not best practices for complying with the law. There are also a number of factors (i.e., political), that cause low levels of enforcement. This particular blogger indeed plays an active role in fighting against active government regulation and enforcement of consumer and other laws. |
Originally Posted by gleff
(Post 30301199)
A reader points me back to this thread, highlighting this spurious charge against me. Sadly I suspect better judgment would be not to engage here. However the allegation that I took someone else's work and claimed it was my own was absolutely 100% false. It gets repeated either by people that haven't bothered to fact check, or who want it to be true badly enough that they choose not do so.
Loyalty Lobby claimed I copied and pasted a hotel list they created and claimed it was my own. That is false. In my post I quoted the blog where I found the list -- (the content in question, from 2014, was in the form of a direct quote). However where I made a mistake is that I attributed it to <I>Head for Points</i>, failing to realize that he himself had quoted the list from Loyalty Lobby. So I cited HFP, not LL. I absolutely blew it. But the mistake was misattribution and was never "not crediting other bloggers." Best, Gary |
Luckily for all of us, IHG now makes the PB list accessible in a way which allows a cut and paste, with a bit of tidying up on top, rather than a mass rewrite of 150 hotel names! This was always one of the more intriguing dilemmas I ever came across though. Imagine you have a PDF list of 150 hotel names. Someone has retyped it already into normal text for online use. You COULD spend an hour retyping it yourself but the end result would be IDENTICAL to the list the someone else has already retyped and put online. No-one would be able to tell whether you had retyped it or cut and pasted. So what, realistically, do you do? |
Originally Posted by Raffles
(Post 30306486)
Luckily for all of us, IHG now makes the PB list accessible in a way which allows a cut and paste, with a bit of tidying up on top, rather than a mass rewrite of 150 hotel names! This was always one of the more intriguing dilemmas I ever came across though. Imagine you have a PDF list of 150 hotel names. Someone has retyped it already into normal text for online use. You COULD spend an hour retyping it yourself but the end result would be IDENTICAL to the list the someone else has already retyped and put online. No-one would be able to tell whether you had retyped it or cut and pasted. So what, realistically, do you do? |
Originally Posted by Adam1222
(Post 30305230)
People who are misled by bloggers tend to come to Flyertalk when they realize their dream of using 240000 flibbits to travel the world for free in business class on December 24 isn't so easy in reality, and this community then deals with trying to clean it up.
Just because no one has enforced consumer protection laws against Gary or other bloggers doesn't mean they aren't violating them; just because enforcement action isn't taken doesn't mean its right; "legalese" like that on these blogs probably isn't of much "legal" value. Compliance departments at financial service providers focus on risk of enforcement action, not best practices for complying with the law. There are also a number of factors (i.e., political), that cause low levels of enforcement. This particular blogger indeed plays an active role in fighting against active government regulation and enforcement of consumer and other laws. Anyway, some of the entries/content/posts people refer to here in the blogs are over my head ATM... but something tells me I shouldn't bother reading them anytime soon in order to "get up to snuff". :p |
Originally Posted by yyznomad
(Post 30309015)
I don't disagree with what you're saying. I'm just saying that maybe there hasn't been much wrist slapping because not many have complained (as they probably should).
Anyway, some of the entries/content/posts people refer to here in the blogs are over my head ATM... but something tells me I shouldn't bother reading them anytime soon in order to "get up to snuff". :p |
So I take it that [MENTION=5823]gleff[/MENTION] doesn't post here on FT much? Sorry, I'm out of the loop.
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VFTW is cited alongside The Points Guy in a new McKinsey report on airline mileage programs.
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/...yalty-programs Ctrl+F "Exhibit 3" |
Originally Posted by yyznomad
(Post 30313090)
So I take it that [MENTION=5823]gleff[/MENTION] doesn't post here on FT much? Sorry, I'm out of the loop.
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